Even at the young age of seven, Homes began developing his unique sinker throw. He developed a unique two-seam grip across the ball that would give him his signature throw. This sinker throw would earn him fame and a place in baseball history.
“I had a lot of people saying to go with a short-arm action, to make so many big mechanical changes,” Holmes said after saving another Yankees victory. “Ultimately, I went against it because I knew there was maybe a risk of losing my sinker. That’s when I really was like: ‘The sinker is going to be my ticket. I need to really figure out how to make it as good as it can be.’”
His pitch had become so successful that he had earned a 0.47 earned run average and 16 saves in 17 chances. He went against 142 batters none had home runs.
On July 19th at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, it will be Holmes’s first year with the Yankees since they traded infielders Diego Castillo and Hoy Park to the Pirates for him. The Yankees knew Home’s sinker pitch would make them a star among other teams.
Holmes makes sure that he perfects his sinker pitch even while he is in a game. He is the only thrower who has thrown a fastball for most of their career.
“I originally hated playing catch with him, and I wouldn’t do it when he first came over here because all he was doing was ripping sinkers,” reliever Michael King said. “And now that I feel like he’s gotten more comfortable with it, he’s not working on it as much. He’s just getting loose, so that’s easy to catch.”
The sinkerball is hard for batters to hit due to the angle it’s being thrown at. “If you’re a sinkerballer, you never want the hitter to see the bottom of the ball, because if the ball’s sinking into you, you want to get underneath it to hit it up,” King said. “You never see the bottom of the ball from him, because out of his hand it’s just coming straight down. You can only see the top of the ball, and if you make contact, it’s going to be a ground ball. That’s why you get so many ugly swings from elite hitters.”
If the season ends with the Yankees on top, it will likely be because of Holmes.
Link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/09/sports/baseball/clay-holmes-yankees.html
“I had a lot of people saying to go with a short-arm action, to make so many big mechanical changes,” Holmes said after saving another Yankees victory. “Ultimately, I went against it because I knew there was maybe a risk of losing my sinker. That’s when I really was like: ‘The sinker is going to be my ticket. I need to really figure out how to make it as good as it can be.’”
His pitch had become so successful that he had earned a 0.47 earned run average and 16 saves in 17 chances. He went against 142 batters none had home runs.
On July 19th at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, it will be Holmes’s first year with the Yankees since they traded infielders Diego Castillo and Hoy Park to the Pirates for him. The Yankees knew Home’s sinker pitch would make them a star among other teams.
Holmes makes sure that he perfects his sinker pitch even while he is in a game. He is the only thrower who has thrown a fastball for most of their career.
“I originally hated playing catch with him, and I wouldn’t do it when he first came over here because all he was doing was ripping sinkers,” reliever Michael King said. “And now that I feel like he’s gotten more comfortable with it, he’s not working on it as much. He’s just getting loose, so that’s easy to catch.”
The sinkerball is hard for batters to hit due to the angle it’s being thrown at. “If you’re a sinkerballer, you never want the hitter to see the bottom of the ball, because if the ball’s sinking into you, you want to get underneath it to hit it up,” King said. “You never see the bottom of the ball from him, because out of his hand it’s just coming straight down. You can only see the top of the ball, and if you make contact, it’s going to be a ground ball. That’s why you get so many ugly swings from elite hitters.”
If the season ends with the Yankees on top, it will likely be because of Holmes.
Link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/09/sports/baseball/clay-holmes-yankees.html
